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Just One MORE

By on Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Cupcakes presented art gallery style is how I would describe MORE cupcakerie in Chicago. Smoother-than-silk frostings.  Sculpted icings.  Chocolate curls as tight as Shirley Temple’s.

And the flavors?  MORE’s list of cupcakes includes a blackberry, salted caramel, and chocolate mint (pictured).

I’m thinking Chicago Museum of Art, stroll along the lakefront, and some downtown deep dish pizza, followed by MORE, MORE, MORE.

 

Sparkly New Year!

By on Sunday, January 1st, 2012

So my theme word of the year is “sparkly,” and what better place to start than with sparkly cupcakes!

There are cupcakeries named “Sparkle Cupcake Company.”

There are cupcake products with “sparkle.”

And then there is “Sparkle and Hay” with step by photo step illustrations of how to make these beautiful, sparkly cupcakes.  Their website and Facebook are all about rustic country chic weddings, so kick up your heels and get into your kitchen, turn on a little Sugarland, and start the new year off with sparkle!

 

Guinness and Bailey Irish Cupcakes

By on Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Thinking of what to put together for your New Year’s Eve party?

Why not cook up your brew instead of drinking it?  Here’s a recipe for Guinness and Bailey Irish Cupcakes that strikes me as rather top-o-the-morning.

Take it one step further, and here’s a recipe for Chocolate Guinness and Whiskey Cupcakes with Bailey’s Frosting.  I’d put this into the later-in-the-day category.

And this recipe variation includes a bittersweet ganache with whiskey option within the Guinness Cupcake.

Cheers!

 

The Last Last-Minute Gift from Magnolia’s

By on Saturday, December 24th, 2011

Just in the nick of time, Magnolia Bakery now offers a monthly cupcake club with nationwide shipping.  Pre-orders are being taken and shipping begins on January 2 with caramel cupcakes, followed by a different cupcake each month.

So if you find yourself in a line that’s too long for someone who is too hard to please, how about putting at least yourself in the spirit?  And while you’re placing your order, why not order Magnolia Bakery’s “Truffled Chocolate Cupcake.”

I know what I’m going to click on as soon as I click on “publish!”

Travel Advisory: the TSA is now seizing cupakes!

By on Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Hot off the press!  Apparently, gel cupcake frosting qualified as a potential security threat at the Las Vegas Airport, causing the TSA to confiscate a cupcake!

The cupcakerie is Wicked Good Cupcakes and just looking at their website has me wanting to fly to their shop to get samples.  The ‘wicked good’ cupcakes made for the MSPCA are pictured here.  If the TSA dogs had discovered these puppies, I might understand what took place.

But my conclusion will simply be this:  it’s just another part of this year’s great cupcake recipe operation

It’s Christmas Crunch Time!

By on Monday, December 19th, 2011

Good Morning ATC Community! and welcome to the official start of crunch time.  These are the days that we second-guess whether we did enough of everything and end up doing too much!

If you’re like me, you’ve baked a fair amount of holiday treasures.

But holiday week is a bit like a marathon and, in the home stretch, who isn’t looking for fresh ideas to keep inspired?  The challenge I set to myself is whether I can come up with a week of images, recipes, and instructions to keep us all – myself included – at 350F from now through next Saturday.

These Baked Ideas images are cookies, but so fresh and original they will inspire your cupcake decorating ideas. Here’s a smorgasbord of cookie decorating ideas from “Baked Ideas” by Patti Paige, along with the Baked Ideas’ Facebook page  and the video on the Baked Ideas mini gingerbread houses.  3,000 each season!

If you’re still looking for last minute gifts, Baked Ideas even sells yoga cookie cutters.  How did she do that?  Here’s her video on piping royal icing onto each one of the yoga posed gingerbread men and here’s the Baked Ideas gingerbread recipe.

Ah-ha!  My Muse gripped that one!

Today, I’m going to springboard those Baked Ideas into spice cupcakes with yoga shapes drawn on the top, including some Sandskrit symbols, such as “Namaste.”  And I know just who is on my list for these yoga cupcakes

Now that’s what I mean about taking inspiration and giving yourself permission to be creative at the holidays!  What’s your idea?

Countdown:  6 days.

Christmas Stollen a la Cupcake!

By on Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Christmas stollen is such a favorite food at the holidays, who can resist the notion of converting it into a cupcake?

Here’s one recipe for Christmas stollen cupakes from The Cupcake Project.

Raisins, dried cranberries, dried currents, dried cherries…we’ll let that negate the bit of pleasure we’ll take from a bit of cherry liqueur and brandy.  And, of course, we’ll only pour those into the recipe, won’t we?

Just in case you have some cherry liqueur left over, here’s a companion recipe for Black Forest Cupcakes.  Well, if I’m on that theme, let’s be sure to have on hand a recipe for White Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes.

Now there’s a cupcake trio that deserves a Ho-Ho-Ho!